Diana Trout's blog

21 Secrets = WOW

I was stickybeaking around the 21 Secrets Ning site and it is amazing this year. Definitely the best yet.

Tammy Garcia of DaisyYellow

There is an outpouring of inspiration, techniques and you-can-do-it attitude. Connie has done a fabulous job of pulling together artists that have a very similar attitude toward teaching and I'm proud to be one of them. 

Kate Crane

Here's some of what you'll find

Doodling
Textile art so that you can wear your art
Good old-fashioned "make it messy" art
Lettering with stitch (oh my)
A playful approach to painting flowers 
Card games to get your mojo goin' (moi) 
Watercolor (!) 
and 14 more 

Ro Bruhn

There is a ton of video - much more than last year. And you have 9 months to play around and incubate. Some of the artists are familiar (Jodi Ohl, Tammy Garcia, Tracy Verdugo and Joanne Sharp - to name a few. And there are some very creative workshops from artists that you may not be familiar to you and, after my poking around, I want to get to know them all better. It is truly fabulous to see new faces emerging. 

Tracy Verdugo

Please note: the artwork pictured here is not necessarily from the workshop projects. 

21 Secrets is 21 mini-workshops on art journaling (and related) from 21 artists. The class is hosted on Ning.com (free membership after your tuition). You can come and go in the workshops as you please, at 2 am or 2 pm (or anytime in between). You can visit all of the classes as often as you like for nine delicious months. This is the best deal in town: $59 for all this? You couldn't make a better investment. 

Sign up on my sidebar. Yeah, now. Do it for you.

About Teaching Art

There have been several emails over the past few months asking for advice on teaching. Fresh from last Sunday's class at the Ink Pad, it seems a good time to begin to answer that question.

If you've taken a class with me, you may have noticed that I love to teach. I've "taught" 2 year olds all the way through to senior citizens and the common denominator is inspiration. To learn, students need to feel inspired, yes? 

Whether you are teaching math or art, inspiration is the central motivator. If you are passionate (inspired) about your subject the excitement spreads and suddenly hellz-a-poppin. 

Thorough, and I mean OCD level thorough, preparation is really important. You can have the coolest ideas, techniques and all the inspiration in the world but if you haven't planned the pace and the explanations, your students will glaze over. You've lost them.

(and I thank you, Sunday Student, for asking that the bookbinding demo be split into two parts). Which brings me to the last topic point for today: Listen To Your Students

Listen to your Students

Your students are your divining rod. Let them lead you, not the other way around. That sounds convuluted after advising you to prepare thoroughly for your class but teaching art is an organic, creative process for me. I make sure that the points planned have been covered but there is always flexibility in my curriculum and that is where listening to your students comes into play.

If you are thoroughly prepared and knowledgeable about your subject, you can allow the creativity and skill level of your class to guide you. Sometimes reigning back on techniques and pushing forward in experimentaion. This varies from student to student so you'll need your track shoes. 

Teaching art is exhilarating. The world really needs fabulous teachers so let's support that.  I'm adding a new category on this topic so it will come up from time to time. Questions and tips are welcome and will add to the pool of resources here.

I'll go into more detail about each of these three topics over time. PS: I took these photos at the tacket stitch class on Sunday. They are all student work. 

Bookbinding: The Tacket Stitch at the Ink Pad

Tacket stitch  is ancient, simple and wide open for interpretation. I think of it as the original staple. I'll be teaching this full day course at The Ink Pad in NYC on February 24, 10am to 5:30 pm.

Start the day off by making the decorative decorative paper for covers and interior using stencils, stamps, watercolor. Most of the papers in these samples are made with the techniques we learn in this class.  The afternoon will be devoted to putting this little gem together. A great container for favorite quotes, pictures, writing or journaling. 

You can register for this class by calling The Ink Pad at 212-463-9876. Class is at the Westbeth Center.

 Download Student Supply List, Tacket

21 Secrets 2013

Registration for 21 Secrets opens today! Class opens on April 1 (no fooling). 

My Secret this year is to provide you with 2 art journaling games: Prompt Me and List 5. These are games that I play in my classes and on my own that provide loads of journal starters.

The card games are presented in pdf form and packaged in small candy tins. Inspiration in a box! 

Ning hosts 21 Secrets again so that loads of interaction there and on the facebook group will make this class a community.

 The price remains the same: $59 forall 21 mini-workshops. Click here (or the image to the left) for registration, teachers and workshop description Dirty Footprints Studio. 

Here's an idea of what you can expect your game packaging to look like (your's will be rectangular.) I've used loads of washi tape to decorate and fabric scraps or paper can be used as well as handmade "washi" tape.

It's gonna be a great year at 21 Secrets! 

Dirty Footprints 2013

The teachers for 21 Secrets are being announced today! You can go on over to Connie's blog, here, to get the full rundown. There are some exciting changes in store this year! I'm so thrilled to be a part of Connie's vision. Registration opens January 1, class opens April 1.

One of the reasons that I'm honored to be a part of this program is that it is affordable, accessible instruction and inspiration. These are the same words in my business plan. The underlying structure of my business. Great passion for sharing and teaching lies under every business decision I make. 

I really, firmly believe (now) that if you are passionate about something, you should take that path. The difficult part is scraping together your confidence and overcoming your fears.

Yes, that IS the tricky bit. Yesterday morning, I had a bit of a confidence crisis. I have 2-3 pieces of artwork due at the end of the month. There are guidelines on format, size and shape. I had a moment of "I really CAN'T work like this." (Critic disguised as Diva). Well, yes I can. Yes. I am.

Check out Connie's blogpost here announcing the Teachers of 21 Secrets. xo Diana

Longstitch, 2 Ways, Opens 11/2/2012

Woot. Are you ready? I'm working on the final video edits, putting together all of the lesson pdf's, looking up links. I'm so thrilled to be able to share this straight-forward, versatile stitch with you. 

Create two basic books in this class: one 8" x 5" Hidden Spine and one 6" x 5" exposed spine. Learn the basic stitch and you can take it anywhere you want! There will be instruction for variations using beads, ribbons and different cover options. (Pictures next week). I've used a good art paper (Stonehenge) in the smaller book and text weight and junk paper in the larger book. These books are sturdy and lie flat when opened - a big plus for visual journaling. 

Here are the pictures again. 

8" x 5" Longstitch, DianaTrout

 

5"x6" Longstitch, DianaTrout

 Download Longstitch, Supply List

All of my classes are hosted on a private blog so that you can post any questions or comments. And I will respond to your questions! I've also set up a Flickr Group, here, so you can upload pictures of your beautiful books.

Videos (4-5), PDF's. 

Permanent access means that you can join anytime and work at your own pace. The blog is up indefintely (forever)

Once you register, I'll send you an email with the username and password.

 $40. Blog opens 11/2/12. 

Bookbinding, Tacket & Longstitch

Tacket binding is an historic book form used in Europe in the Middle Ages (and most likely earlier). This is one of those bindings that is simple enough for beginners and just waiting for you to experiment with it.  These are the Dos-i-Dos that we made in Italy. Most of us used our own handmade paper to fill this small, ripe book.

The Longstitch is another one of those bindings that everyone does differently. The creativity in bookbinding is endless: a "problem" presents itself and the binder solves it. Or an opportunity to embellish a spine is taken advantage of. Here is Susan Cohen's woven longstitch.

Buying or making all of our papers in Fabriano was very neat: so many to choose from and very different from what is available to us here in the States or Canada. We had a lot of fun mixing patterns and textures. 

These stitches are so endless. I plan on building a couple of online classes for the fall. They are too good to keep to myself!

Circle Journal

My latest online class, Circle Journal, is up and running. You may be tired of hearing about it. Sorry.

Read about it here and look at the video to get a feel for what is involved: 4 lessons, 22 videos and 7 pdf's. 

Circle Journal Online, Open Registration

Circle Journal is a reformated class from last year's work-along class. An independent study class that you can work at your own pace. The material will be permanently accessible.

This is a LOT of information: a painting primer, a mixed media primer, art journaling primer: much more than I could cover in 2-3 full day workshops. And you always have me on the other end of your computer! 

Sign up and begin anytime you'd like. A total of 22 videos and a bunch of pdfs: one for each of the four lessons, plus symbol drawing, words to transfer, a tiny maze book zine. 

Lesson 1:  Painting & Markmaking. Using thinned acrylic paints, let the spilling begin. Brushstrokes, color mixing, markmaking with stamps, stencils, alternative items.  (5 videos, 2 pdf's) 

Lesson 2: Folding & Stitching your Maze Book. The possibilities are endless with this type of book. Make a mistake? No problem: stitch, cut, tape your way to a new bookform. Handstitching, machine stitching techniques and ideas are included (2 videos, 2 pdf's). 

Lesson 3: Line, Collage, Gesso & Paint. (8 videos, 1 pdf). Loads of spilling in this lesson in lines and images. Get the low down on using paint, gesso and portfolios. Creating your own stamps is simple if you've done the brainstormng on symbols. Includes creating foam stamps and symbol drawing. 

Lesson 4: Embellishments. (7 videos, and a bunch of pdf's). Includes tabs, blender pen transfers, simple lettering,  and other embellishments).

 $60.00 USD

Two Page Spread, Diana Trout, Circle Journal

$60/Join Anytime, Permanent Access
After you have paid for the class, you will receive the blog URL and password from me 

Complete Supply List:

2-3 Parent sized sheets smooth, heavy printmaking or watercolor pape paper, hot press, 90# (30” x 22”approx.)

Acrylic Paints, large flat brush : 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch, round brush #9
Heavy gel matte medium
Gesso

bottle of ink(s) or reinkers
small spray bottle(s) 
straw, Eyedropper
craft foam (available in the children’s area at the craft store)
small piece of heavy cardboard, or wooden block
Stamp pad(s)
craft knife
scissors
glue stick
pens, pencils
masking tape 
collage papers 
template plastic (old milk jug)
Plastic Wrap (optional)
Chartpak Blender Pen for photocopy transfers. This is a bit smelly - like nail polish remover.  If you are sensitive, you may want to skip it.
Crayons, children’s wax
Portfolios or Caran d’Ache watersoluble crayons

I hope you'll join me! 

A Rumpus in NYC

We rocked the West Lake Community Center on Saturday. 

Here are some of my students goofing around on the piano.

Every time paper dolls are on the syllabus, it is another round of pure fun. There is a huge variety. 

I "forgot" to make stencils for my students. After an initial "we can't draw that," I pretend to hurry about making the stencils while they all draw "that." What is even better is that they all draw that body originally, whimsically and with a low stress factor. 

And it is a true reflection of themselves. 

My students are always top drawer: willing and more than able. I love you all. And it is an honor to teach. One that I take pretty danged seriously.

After a day like Saturday, it is evident how lucky I am. Even with all of the planning, packing and carrying of a suitcase full of supplies.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Here is a picture of some of my students taking pictures of their dolls. It was a huge photo opp and we were all trying to get pictures. It was lovely to see them all joking, laughing and just having a blast. That is Anna on the left, owner of The Ink Pak.